Do You Remember When?
by sannymeowit
Summary: Matthias never wanted any of this to happen... all he wanted was his little brother to come back home... sufin and some denor if you squint. meant to be in viking times but not historically accurate... blargh im rubbish at these things...
1. Chapter 1

**A.N:** **right so my first fanfic I upload! yay... exciting... the first 2 chapters are actually gonna be based on a rp me and my friend did ages ago. I've actually written this whole fic down in a book of mine and recently thought, "hey got nothing to lose, have time and an account, lets type this up and post it!" soo... yeah. that. eh I'm rubbish with all this intro stuff...**

 **disclaimer: hetalia isn't mine unfourtunatly or the nordics would show up more often...**

 **CHAPTER 1**

"Ber". Matthias whispered, shaking the tiny figure that was sleeping next to him slightly. "Ber, wake up! Come on, let's go hunting or practise sword and axe fighting!" He said, a little louder than before, shaking a little more vigorously. "Urgh… go back to sleep. I'm tired…" Berwald moaned and turned over. Matthias sat on his side of the hay, wondering how to wake him up and got an idea. "Ber… if you don't wake up, I'll go call Lukas instead…" he whispered in his ear and Berwald immediately woke up and muttered, "I'm up, I'm up… what do you want?" His eyes were still half closed.

· * *

"You know, you should come with me and Lukas the next time we go to the village. No point in staying here doing nothing, right?" Matthias said as Ber put his hand in his lap and Matt started smoothing out his hair lovingly. "I-I don't do nothing…" he started half asleep. "I go… towards the east and- and I trade and see such lovely things… you should come with me next time…" Berwald said smiling at the memory of all the nice things he saw. But Matthias had frozen. He looked down worried and questioned Ber, "wh-what do you mean? You've been going towards the east? On your own?! Wh-where else did you go?"

"Well" Ber started dreamily. "I also went out a little across the border. But there was someone with big purple eyes and… and they almost stabbed me. But I got away." He smiled but Matthias's face turned red with anger. "I'll kill him… I swear I'll kill him. Ber, get up. You're going to point out who this is right now… let's see how they like stabbing people with an axe at their neck…" He said getting up and breathing heavily like a bull ready to charge.

Berwald by now was fully awake and protested saying he was alright and that no harm was done. "Don't worry Matt! Look, I'll tell you of all the nice things I saw in the east side!" Ber got up, picked up a stick and starting drawing on the ground. "They- they have these weird creatures that look like dogs but are smaller and they don't bark. They're called cats!" Matthias looked down at the drawing of a weird creature that Ber drew on the ground. He squinted and asked " well what are they for?" "they're for catching birds and they're basically like…companions or 'pets' as Heracles calls them." Ber explained. Matthias narrowed his eyes with suspicion. "Who is this Her-Hera, well whatever his name is, who is he?" Matthias questioned. So Berwald told him all about how he met Heracles who was the country Greece and his mother Byzantine and how nice they and their home was.

"It's massive and covered with all sorts of paintings and pretty gems. They also have these buildings called churches where they pray! The churches are really big too and people donate a lot of gold and all that but..." "Gold?" Matthias perked. His favourite word only second to kill. "How-how much gold is there?" he was suddenly very interested in these new colonies. "Um… quite a lot I guess? But that doesn't really matter does it? Berwald asked. He knew his brother loved gold and all but surely he wouldn't hurt his new friends to get what belongs to them… would he?

"No-no I was… just interested in their uh, economy? Can you take me there tomorrow actually? I changed my mind. It would be nice to see the place a bit I suppose…" Matthias started, but in his mind he was already planning the best way to extract all he could from this new-found treasure. "Of course! Though I have to warn you, it's really, really warm there so don't pack any extra coats and such. Oh, and they speak this weird language called 'Latin'. I learnt a bit myself so… hey… y-you are listening, right?" Berwald asked before a horrible thought entered his mind. He grabbed Matthias's arm and looked at him worriedly. "Ma-Matthias… you're not… you're not going to… hurt them, are you?

Matthias looked down at him expressionlessly, ruffled his hair and just said, "go back to sleep Ber, we'll talk about this again in the morning." He then turned away, trying to free his arm from the tightening grip of Berwald. "NO!" He said, getting more and more worried and upset. What had he done! "Matt, you-you can't hurt them! You can't steal from them! I told you about Heracles and his mum so that you could see how exotic this world is! So that you won't destroy everything just to get some stupid metal! You can't Matthias, you can't!"

"Ber," he said, struggling to free his arm, "Ber, go back to sleep! You said you were tired! One more thing," he knelt down and looked at his brother's tear stained face. "After this trip, I don't want you ever leaving this place without me ever again. Got it? It's not safe and you're still too young to be able to protect yourself. These people, they don't always turn out to be the way you think they are… take this purple-eyed guy for example. Knowing you, you probably just went there to trade or whatever and what did you get? Hurt, that's all." He hugged the tiny country who was now struggling to get away from him. "I don't want you hurt Ber."

"And yet you'd love to hurt the people I care about!" Berwald exploded, as he pushed himself away from Matthias's embrace.

"Oh come on little Berry, you couldn't have known these people for more than a week or so!" Matthias tried reasoning. Berwald looked down. "6 months, 3 weeks and 4 days. And don't call me that, I'm not a kid anymore." He whispered as the Dane's expression darkened slightly.

"You've been lying to me for nearly 7 months!? I-I thought you told me everything!" he exclaimed. The Dane was clearly hurt. Although he called Berwald his little brother, he had looked after him like a father would to his son. But Ber wasn't taking blame. "You never asked. Every time I tried telling you or Lukas, you'd always interrupt me with talks of how well you killed everyone and stole their gold. I did try to tell you, but you never listen!" he protested and added, "And as for not being able to take care of myself, I've had enough training to do just that. "So," Matthias darkly started, "you can take care of yourself, huh?"

"Yes I-"Ber was cut short as Matthias grabbed him, spun him around and pulled a knife at his throat. "The enemy has you in this position," he said, as Ber began to struggle, his eyes wide with anger and fear. "What do you do?" Quick as a flash, Ber grabbed a hunting dagger that Matthias always had around his waist in a belt and cut the hand holding him enough so that a bit of blood was drawn. He was immediately set free as his captor cried out from surprise more than anything else.

Ber's eyes shone triumphantly as he said "I CAN take care of myself! And I'll warn Heracles not to let you in his kingdom!" With that, he ran off fast and blindly. He had to get away from the camp, from Denmark, from Matthias. "Berwald! Come back!" a voice cried faintly from the distance, but he didn't hear it. All he heard was his feet running and his loud heart drumming in his chest.

After a while, exhaustion forced him to stop and take deep breaths. He looked around to try and get a sense of direction. Trees and bushes were everywhere but he knew the route inside out. He also knew that he didn't have much time. Matthias could be running after him right this minute and he had to warn Heracles.

So he walked on, fast at certain points then slower. As he did, Ber kept thinking of what he would have to do next. Naturally Heracles wouldn't let him stay after he finds out how he had unintentionally betrayed him. There was no way he could go back, he'd never see the light of day! Not to mention how out of control Matthias would be in rage. He supposed he could go back to the place where he met the boy who tried to stab him. He looked around his 'age' and didn't look really menacing or anything, just a little scared. And he had such nice purple eyes.

After a log walk that took a few days, he finally reached the outskirts of his destination. Tired but glad, Berwald began sprinting but stopped the moment he heard a very familiar voice speak….

 **A.N: so... first chapter done! i might upload chapter 2 today as well or maybe do it weekly... i dont know...**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Ber…" A voice said from behind. Berwald spun around. No… it couldn't be… there was no way he could have known the route…

"Surprised, eh? What? You're not happy to see me little Berry?" Matthias was standing there, his trusty axe, which was always covered with dry red streaks on the blade, in his hand. His hair was wilder than usual, covered with all sorts of leaves and twigs and his long cloak in tatters and frays on the ends. His face looked as wild as his hair.

"wh-what are you doing here?! How did y-"

"I followed you." Matthias interrupted, looking unimpressed and started inspecting his axe as if incredibly bored. "It wasn't hard. You always make a huge racket wherever you go." He looked up straight into Berwald's questioning, accusing eyes. But there was more than that. Underneath all those secondary emotions, Ber felt only one thing when Matthias looked at him like that. Cold, pure fear.

"Matthias please… I- I just…" He tried to explain, stuttering through his words. Tried to tell him to go away. Because the Matthias in front of him wasn't his big brother that was supposed to look after him. This was Matthias, the blood thirsty Viking who killed and plundered for fun and left chaos in his wake.

Matthias looked at his little brother's badly attempted to conceal terrified face and softened. After all, he just wanted to take him back home… "Ber." He smiled gently, almost pleadingly. "Ber, come back home. Lukas misses you, I miss you. Don't worry, I won't hurt any of your friends… too much anyway." He added softly to himself. But Berwald had heard it and he found courage to speak up.

"No." Ber said, taking a step back. "No, I-I won't go back with you. You'll hurt everyone and kill them! Then you'll take everything and LIE! LIE right to my FACE, that you didn't do anything! Because that's all you'll ever do! That's all you ever are! A LIAR and a MURDERER!" he shouted, almost shaking with fear and rage.

"CAN'T YOU SEE? ALL THIS!" He waved his arms around, "IT'S AMAZING AND BEAUTIFUL BUT ALL YOU'LL EVER DO TO IT IS DESTROY!" The moment those words came out, he realised what a terrible mistake he had done. Fury was slowly seeping into Matthias's normally cheerful blue eyes as he walked towards the small nation, rage making every step heavier.

"All I ever seemed to you… just a liar and a killer? Was I just a stealing MONSTER rather a caring brother who was worried about his little bro and his people?" He asked softly, his voice dripping with anger. Berwald knew the softer the voice got, the higher the risk someone was going end up hurt. Namely him.

He started taking tiny steps back. "Matthias… y-you wouldn't h-hurt me… wo-would you?" Berwald asked him, his voice quivering because he wouldn't put it past this furious Viking in front of him. Matthias smiled like a cat that had just cornered a tiny helpess bird that couldn't fly. "Of course not silly!" He said, voice still as soft as ever. "Instead let's play a game. You like games, don't you little Berry?" He stopped just a few steps away from Berwald who subconsciously whispered, "Don't call me that, I'm not a kid anymore." Matthias grinned like he knew this would be the reply. "You're right. You're not a kid anymore. All the more reason the play this game." Saying this he pulled a long gleaming sword from its sheath around his belt and threw it at Berwald's feet. The smile from his face was gone and replaced with the expression of a deadly Viking.

"Pick up the sword. Let's see how well you really can protect yourself." He challenged, as Berwald picked up the sword slightly confused as to what he meant. "Are we training?" He asked as Matthias started walking back a bit, gripping the handle of his axe tightly and raising it so that the blade was eye level to Ber. "No…" he said dangerously soft. "You'll be fighting the real thing with your worst nightmare…" Matthias ran with a huge burst of energy and clashed the axe with the sword Berwald had risen just in time to prevent his head being chopped off. At impact, the weapons made such a huge noise that when Matthias spoke again, the noise was still ringing in his ears. "Your worst nightmare being ME!" the Viking shouted as he raised his axe once more and brought it down again with twice the force than before.

Thanks to all the training he had done before and his quick reflexes, Berwald managed to bring his sword between the axe and his head again. However this time he cried out from shock and pain from the amount of force and was forced to his knees. Berwald bent down his head and gasped with exhaustion, his sword almost falling out of his hand.

When he saw his little brother cry out and fall like that, Matthias's eyes looked like they had started to regain the brotherly love and worry again. But the Viking part of him was absolutely delighted and kept telling him to grab the opportunity and take advantage of his neck being unprotected. Bring it down on him! Defeat him! He was all that stood in his way of riches! Matthias's head was filled with such thoughts and madness slowly seeped back in and filled his eyes and head while his heart was screaming at him to stop.

He raised his axe over his head and was just about to bring it down when the worst thing possible happened.

Berwald started to cry.

It was just soft, quiet sniffling and whimpering really. He was never one to openly sob. But it was enough to make Matthias drop his weapon. Kneeling down beside him, Matthias gave a massive, lung-crushing hug of apology to him. Berwald immediately stopped crying and struggled to get out of his grip. "L-let go of me!" he exclaimed and squirmed around a bit. Before the Dane could react, he grabbed and pulled out the hunting knife that was around Matthias's waist and pushed him forcefully down, putting the knife at his throat. All in a matter of seconds.

Matthias, now the one laying on the floor, simply smirked. "Good one. You picked that up from one of the lessons we had, right? Could have used some more force but I guess with your size, this is good enough. Now, get off me and lets go back home. This has all been fun and all but dinner will get cold." he smiled tauntingly, going back to big brother mode. Berwald simply growled in response and pushed to knife just close enough to draw some blood as a signal for him to shut up. "I'm not going back…" he muttered as the smile from Matthias's face fell and was replaced by one of anger again. "Berry… that's not an option…" he began, discreetly reaching for another dagger that he had kept around his waist as well, hidden from plain sight. By the time Berwald noticed that his brother had gone unusually quiet, he was face flat on the ground, with the Viking's foot on his back, keeping him down and a dagger tip dangerously close to the back of his neck

He tried getting up only to be kicked sharply on his side. "I'd stay down if I were you…" Berwald could practically feel the smug smile that was radiating from him. But he lay there, imagining all sorts of horrible ways that Matthias could die or better still, be tortured. As he did, Berwald took deep breaths, despite the snow in his face and tears forming in his eyes. He waited for the Dane to deliver the blow that would finish him with a brave face. But it never came. Instead, he heard Matthias sigh and felt him remove his foot and blade away. Berwald still lay there though, filled with caution and suspicion, before he was pulled up by the hair near to the face of a very tired and angry looking Matthias. Well, angry was a simple way of saying it. Really, he looked insane. He forced Berwald to look at him straight in the eye. "Look at me Ber, look into my eyes… would I ever hurt you?" He asked as Ber looked into his mad, red eyes and shuddered.

"Yes." Ber whispered, trembling. "You would…" The moment he said those words, Matthias picked him up in his arms with a sigh and started storming back, the dagger in his hand. Berwald began to squirm and struggle to jump out but let out a gasp. Matthias looked down and saw his eyes widen with pain and fear and felt Berwald go stiff. Seconds later, he felt something warm and moist coming out from the outer side of Ber's body. One quick glance was all it took to see the dagger lodged deep into his brother's side.

Matthias immediately dropped him to the ground in shock and heard a moan escape from Berwald as his head hit a small rock, concealed on the ground from the thick snow. An area on his head began bleeding as well. His eyes, no longer wide, were beginning to close rapidly and he started gasping for air. All Matthias could do was kneel down by his side and hold on to his hand tightly, stammering for him to hold on and that help will soon come. Tears began forming in the previously furious nation as he muttered over and over again, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this… it's not my fault, I'm so sorry Berry, I didn't mean for this."

Berwald looked his way with one hard glare, "T-this i-is yo-your fa-fault…" with that he let out one last gasp and went limp.

 **A.N: Have some feels! seriously though any tomatoes thrown will be given to Romano. It broke my heart when i roleplayed this beep you Emma you did this to me. But anyway! thank you all for the reviews! I've decided from chapter 4 onwards I'll be posting weekly, but if there is a delay then pls dont mind.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Deep breaths. He was running through a forest. Laughter was echoing all around. It hurt. He stopped running. Too tired. He looked up to see a man with a sharp gleaming axe. Why was he surrounded by cats? He looked up again to see the man raising his axe up. He tried to run but the cats held him down. "Bye bye Berry! Bye bye Berry!" the man kept repeating the same thing over and over again. "No, stop please!" He tried to protest as the axe was brought down.

"NO!" Berwald cried out aloud and sat up. He was almost soaking with sweat and took deep breaths. He looked around, trying to figure out where he was. Before he could, he felt someone strangling him in a tight embrace. Ber started panicking again and meekly began crying for help.

"Berry! It's about time! Dear Odin, I was so worried! I-I'm sorry…about everything I did back there… it was idiotic, and now I'm just glad that you're ok" he heard the stranger say before being released. The guy was crying for some weird reason. "Uh… w-who are you? Wh-why are you calling me 'Berry'? M-my name is Berwald. W-what is this place?" Berwald asked getting more and more panicked and worried while this stranger stared at him.

"y-you don't mean to say you've forgotten me Ber? Alright now, quit joking around, you got me!" Matthias joked nervously and play punched him on the shoulder. Ber only flinched and shuddered at the touch. He couldn't remember who this person was, only that he had been hurt by him and that he was dangerous.

"P-please… I d-don't know who you are….but something tells me you've hurt me and I should stay away from you. Please! J-just go away!" Ber shuddered and pulling the fur blanket closer around him and hiding his face in it, away from the scary stranger. "Ber it's me! Matthias! Your older brother! I-I raised you! I-!"

Berwald interrupted him "Then why do I feel like you've hurt me or betrayed me if you're my brother?" he said as Matthias looked at him desperately, trying to think of a way to make his little brother remember him. "Berwald please stop messing around! You've punished me enough now! I'm sorry about what I've done! I-I didn't mean to! You were squirming too much and just… Ber please stop making me feel even more guilt! I've been going through hell for the past two months trying to get you to wake up! And now that you have, you… you… ", Matthias began to crumble, tears escaping. "It's not fair!" He declared almost childishly. He really had been going through a guilty hell ever since that incident happened. He ate and slept very little and if he ever got any sleep, his dreams always showed Berwald face gasping for air and saying over and over again, "This is your fault."

Even when he went around to the towns and villages with Lukas, to do their regular round of terrorising the villagers. Every person he tried to kill, had Ber's face, begging for his life. Now that Berwald was finally up, he… IT JUST WASN'T FAIR! Matthias raked his brain trying to think of a way to make him remember and suddenly got an idea!

"Wait!" He cried out as Ber flinched from the volume. "Lukas! He'll know what to do!" and ran out the room. The small nation lay there in silence with his eyes closed, trying to remember if he knew anyone called 'Lukas'. The name did sound familiar and important but didn't really ring a loud bell. He sat there trying to see if he remembered anything else.

Suddenly an image of large purple eyes came flooding in his mind. He threw open his own light turquoise eyes and gasped at the memory. Those eyes… he had to find out who they belonged to. They were gorgeous and although Berwald had a feeling that he had almost been hurt by the owner of the eyes, he felt a huge urge to go search for that person. It was someone who was special. He was sure of it.

Berwald immediately jumped out of bed and ran to the door, when Matthias came back with Lukas. "Ber!" he cried out in surprise as the small boy tried to forcefully push past from between them. He picked him up and placed him back on the hay bed saying, "You can't get up and going yet! You need to rest and recover your memory!" Matthias looked desperately at Lukas who was staring at Berwald with a neutral expression. Ber was frowning very cutely so Lukas couldn't help but chuckle softly as he kneeled down to come face to face with him. He asked him gently, "Berwald, do you remember me?"

Ber frowned more and closed his eyes, trying to see if he had any memories of a quiet, soft-haired boy with a hair clip. A very faded image of someone of that description standing over him on a large field of snow blurred into his mind. He concentrated harder to make it clearer, but the image was already fading away and was once again replaced by the purple eyes, haunting him, urging him to go.

Berwald opened his eyes and gasped. He looked straight at the Norwegian stranger in front of him and clearly said, "No, I don't remember you. Or him," Ber indicated the distressed Dane who's face crumpled when he heard this. He jumped off the bed and ran towards the door saying, "I have to go now. There's someone I have to see." Matthias managed to grab him and held on to him while Ber started struggling crying out, "NO! LET ME GO! I HAVE TO GO!"

The moment Matthias heard those words, his expression went blank. But his eyes began filling with immense guilt as he remembered those same words said before two months ago. If only he had listened, none of this would be happening and Berwald would still be alright… He let go, still staring into space and faintly heard Lukas call out, "Berwald! Come back! Matthias what were you thinking!"

Berwald ran until he could run no more. His mind was exploding with scratchy images of him racing through this forest. Something like this had happened before. He had done this before. He fell to his knees, gasping and groaning from the pain in his head and sides. Faded pictures of the two strangers who called themselves Matthias and Lukas swirled in his mind like a blizzard. He tried to get up and back on his feet, but only managed to crawl a few steps before a splitting pain on his right side forced him down again. Vague memories of the wild- haired boy holding his hand as he took a few hesitant steps on a frozen lake, snuggling with the calm boy on a cold winter's night… but the only image that remained clear before he blacked out, was the strong purple eyes, staring and waiting for him to find them. He… he had to… he had to find them…

When Berwald opened his eyes again, he felt cold. Not just any cold, but brain-numbing, frozen completely cold. He slowly got up, every part of his body feeling like ice and shook off a thick layer of snow that had fallen over him during the time he had blacked out on the ground. Shivering violently and feeling like he would snap anytime like an icicle, he took a few laborious and painful steps, urging his body to warm up. If any normal human had stayed out in a raging blizzard for a few hours and laying on the ground that too, they would have died. But Ber knew he wasn't a normal human. He was Sweden. Although he was weak now, someday he'll go strong, strong enough to bear this weather without a second thought. That thought drove him to take a few more determined steps. His body started warming up and he could now began to get feeling back. Ber smiled and then winced. His right side hurt a lot and was getting more painful with every step he took, and so was his head. But he carried on. He distantly recalled being near the border of some country when he had seen those eyes, and he was assuming it was this country, wherever this place was. So the sooner he got to the border, the better.

Meanwhile, Lukas was sending people to search for the lost country. "Go to every place he might be, any place that is special to him. He might have a faint memory of that place and would have gone there! Matthias do you know any more places like that?" Lukas turned to the nation who was sitting in a corner, his head buried in his knees, being uncharacteristically quiet except for the occasional high-pitched screech of regret. He had been like this ever since Lukas slapped him to get him back to reality when Ber had done a runner. Matthias looked up at the calm country, his face completely red from too much crying and whispered, "I already told you every place he could be, damn it. It's my fault… all my fault…" he went back to being hunched up and started whispering it over and over again to himself.

Lukas bit his lip and clenched his fist. He hated seeing the normally happy Matthias broken like this and was one step away from slapping the half-insane Dane silly. Anything to get him back to normal. He knew that Matthias was having a difficult time and that he should be understanding but it was getting harder as every hour passed. If he really wanted to find his little brother, then he'll get up and start searching rather than just sitting there making weird sounds and generally feeling sorry for himself. The trouble was how to tell this gently.

Lukas sighed softly and walked to Matthias. He knelt down and sat next to him. After a few hesitant seconds, he put an arm around his shoulder and awkwardly cuddled near him. That almost always got him talking and right now, Lukas knew that Matthias needed to rant it all out and listen to an inspirational speech.

"Matthias…" He started before being interrupted (seemingly intentionally) by what sounded like a mixture of a goose and a bat call sound come from him. "Matthias…" he tried again with a sigh. "Look, it's not good keeping all that guilt and frustration bottled up so why don't yo…" "WAAHH! WHY DID I HAVE TO BE SO CRUEL TO BERRY!?" AND NOW HE'S GONE AND IT'S ALL MY FAAAAUUULLT!" Matthias wailed loudly as Lukas smiled discreetly to himself. Works every time.

So the next one and half hours were spent on Matthias arguing loudly with himself and crying on the now very wet shoulder of Lukas. When he finished ranting. Matthias received a speech that could rival no one on how he should pick himself up and ~not act like a cry-baby~ not drown in self-pity. Instead he should search for Berwald with all his heart and hope to be forgiven. The occasional person interrupted once a while between wails to report that was Berwald was not found in a certain area or so. By the end of the session, Matthias was getting up and smiling while having his eyes dried by the relived Norwegian.

"Alright…I'll go and search near the border. Lukas, you stay here and wait for any updates." Matthias straightened up and almost had the same old cheerful glint in his eyes again as he went out the door.

 **have a chapter 3. Seriously though I am so happy with all these reviews and followers like oh gosh people like my story... shock to me to be honest...**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Berwald ducked down a nearby bush as another Viking walked past, dragging his sword on the soft snow. He was grumbling to himself and Ber could catch a few phrases like, "Always me on duty….", "…stupid, silly kid…", "when I get my hands on…", "why can't Denmark look for him, himself?"

Berwald froze. He didn't know who this "Denmark" was but he was pretty sure that when the guard said, "stupid silly kid" he referring to him. The spikey haired blonde boy must've alerted the borders to be on watch for him. But why? Why did this guy care so much about him? Berwald was still wary of him and any mention of him.

He was still kneeling behind the bush just metres away from the gate that separates this country he was in and the other one he had to get into. There were around a dozen men, each unshaved, great big bears of men that too with an axe or a sword each. The question was how to sneak past them. There was really no way Ber could take all of them on with no weapons that too. But the plus point was that they had the attention span of a goldfish. Unless they were told to kill an intruder, they wouldn't budge. Looking for a runaway kid? They probably only remembered it because Lukas had sent a violent and dangerous warning of what would happen to all of them if Berwald was found to have gone past them. But other than that, there really was no good reason to be on a lookout for him. Now if Berwald was carrying gold, he'd already be home. Of course, completely stripped of the money first. But since he had no such thing, it shouldn't be that hard to get past them.

If he could run up and climb the gate and get across without being noticed, then even when they find out he went across and was right in front of his eyes, there was nothing they could do to him! Not when he was on foreign ground, would they come after him…right? Berwald pushed that doubt away. That wasn't important now. What was important was finding the purple- eyed boy. He quickly got up and after making sure that the guards were busy with an arm-wrestling match, sprinted silently to the gate. He quickly began to climb up.

When he was mid-way up, one of the guards lifted his head to see if it was going to snow again and saw the small swede that was half way up on the gate they were supposed to guard. He took a full half- minute to process what was happening and when he did, he let out a blood-curdling war cry and launched a small dagger he had at Berwald, who was completely frozen still with fear at the war cry. The dagger however only grazed his shoulder and the pain startled him awake from his daze and Berwald began to climb hurriedly again.

The cry had also alerted the others, who started to grab various small weapons, anything that they could throw at him such as daggers, knives, arrow heads, and shoes. They were all thrown at him like he was some sort of apple on a tree which they were trying to hit. They perfect shot and it'll come down. The guards then seemed to have forgotten that the boy was wanted **_unharmed_** and some began climbing up the gate after him, with swords in one hand or daggers in their mouths.

The gate wasn't too high and Berwald reached the top within minutes. But as he looked down on the other side, he realised it was a long fall. A shiver went down his spine and Berwald then remembered the guards behind him. "STOP RIGHT THERE!" a shout came from one of the guards who was just at Ber's feet now. As he pulled himself up to his side, an arrow went shooting straight into his guts. The extremely confused guard fell from the gate on the ground, stunned and hurt. He pulled out the arrow, which thanks to the think fur coat wasn't too deep in, however it still hurt enough to keep him down, dazed.

Ber turned around, astonished and confused at who helped him. He looked up just in time to see a shadowy figure jump from across a tree to the other. Berwald looked around in the trees, distressed that the helper was gone. "I have to find him…" He muttered and squeezing his eyes shut, jumped from the gate. Anytime now he would hit the soft snow below…

Anytime now…

…

What was taking so long?

He hesitantly opened one eye to see he was still in the same place, hanging a little off the edge, with a guard's arms around his waist. Berwald cried out and grabbed on to the gate and the guard tried dragging him down along with him. Another arrow came flying from above again and hit the guard's upper arm. He let go in pain and surprise and Ber quickly jumped off… and fell face-flat in the cold snow below. But he recovered quickly from the fall and ran into the forest quickly, not even bothering to look back and see if they were coming after him or not. Berwald slowed down when he thought he was at a good distance and sat down to catch his breath. The crossing of the border turned out to be harder than he thought…

Suddenly a rustling in the bushes distracted him from his thoughts. Ber stood up immediately and got ready to run again. Had the guards come back for him? However before he could register what was actually happening or what he should do next, Berwald was on the floor with someone on top of him.

When he got out of his dazed state, Ber began to panic and tried getting up only to be pushed down again. He could feel something sharp being gently pressed to the back of his neck and instincts told him to stay down. His eyes began filling with tears though. It wasn't fair! He was so close to finding the purple-eyed boy and now he had got himself captured!

"Who are you? Why were you trying to come here?" a strangely soft voice asked. It couldn't have belonged to those animals that called themselves guards. So Berwald decided to answer it. The voice. For some reason, he was drawn to it and trusted whoever it was speaking. "I-I'm Sweden. Also called Berwald. I- I came here… looking for someone. Um… c-could you please g-get off me maybe? Also... was it you who shot the arrows?" Berwald asked with caution, still unsure of the person's temperament.

The stranger was silent for a few minutes as if wondering if he could trust this helpless boy who he was on top of. But with a sigh, he got off. Berwald, pleased that he could move again, sat up and looked at him. By size, Ber could tell he was a young boy really. He had a mask on so the face couldn't be seen properly. The boy was dressed in what looked like reindeer skin and had a sword in his hand as well as a dozen or so arrows sitting out in a holder around his waist. His bow was on the floor beside him. "Yes, I shot those arrows. It didn't seem right, so many men against a little guy. Although if you are who you claim to be then you are not too older than me. It doesn't matter anyway. You have to go back. Foreigners are not welcome here." Having said that, the strange boy began walking away.

Berwald sat there, blinking his eyes and trying to understand what he meant by "not too older than me." How was that possible? Humans would be dead if they were his age by now. Unless…

"Wait!" Ber cried, running after him. "What do you mean by that? Are you a country too?" He asked as he caught up with the boy. Since the mask was there, Berwald couldn't tell if he was angry at being asked this or not. "Yes I am. Name's Finland. Nice to meet you. Now leave." He muttered and began walking away again. Or at least he would have if Ber hadn't grabbed his arm. The boy whipped his head back at Ber. "Let. Go. Of. My. Hand." Finland quietly said. Berwald shook his head, too scared to speak and hesitantly reached out for his mask. He had a sudden urge to see his face. But before he could, Finland grabbed his hand, lifted him high in the air and pulled him down hard. Thankfully the snow broke Ber's fall so it wasn't so harsh and he was simply dazed. But he quickly recovered and grabbed the legs of Finland, bringing him down too.

They wrestled in the snow for a bit but just when Finland was about to throw another punch, his mask came loose and fell off. Berwald gasped as his face was Finland's face was revealed to him for the first time. He had little cuts and small bruises in some areas but it was his eyes that grabbed his attention. It was the same eyes that had been haunting him from the moment he had woke up. The eyes that were the reason for him risking his neck at the border.

So as Finland stared at him with his large purple eyes, Berwald smiled and said "Found you."

 **These two... they are precious cinnamon buns...**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"HOW IN ODIN'S NAME DID 12 GROWN UP MEN SKILLED AND ARMED FAIL AT CATCHING 1 SMALL BOY?!" Matthias pinned to guard down furiously barking in his face. He had gone berserk when he heard what happened and 7 of the guards were laying on the ground, groaning in pain. 2 had run away and the 2 that were hit by arrows were the only ones that were shown a bit of mercy. "W-we tried to stop him… really we did! B-but there was someone on the other side who helped your boy get away." The guard said, trembling. All the Danish Vikings were afraid of Matthias although none of them would admit it. He was by far the fiercest and often most drunk Viking amongst them. He was normally good-natured and jolly but when he was mad… all you could do was hope that the rage wasn't directed at you and stay out of his way.

"WELL I DON'T CARE IF ALL OF VALHALLA WAS HELPING HIM! YOU WERE TOLD NOT TO LET HIM GET PAST YOU! AND YOU FAILED!" He shouted in the guard's face. Matthias then picked him up with one hand and tossed him across the ground. "GO!" he ordered as the guard picked himself up. "GO AND TELL NORGE I'M GOING ACROSS TO LOOK FOR HIM! It's my fault he left so I'll be the one to get him back." He added to himself. Matthias had stopped feeling angry at his brother ever since he had…

Instead he was filling up with self-loath and hatred. As the guard ran away to deliver the message, he walked to the open gate and took a deep breath as he walked across. He was going to find his brother. Whether he liked it or not.

Finland stared at Berwald. He had seen this boy before… "Hey… I've seen you here before…" Since he was wearing a mask, he couldn't see the boy's face clearly, but now without the mask he was sure… although he couldn't remember all the features, but those eyes… those **_dark- blue_** eyes had been haunting him the day he saw them. He had only attacked him that day because of his instincts of seeing a stranger so close to him. It was self-protection he had convinced himself but, still felt guilty about it every night. Now that this person was in front of him… he didn't know what to do.

"Really? You remember me? All I remember are your eyes…" the boy who called himself Berwald excitedly said. He then turned red and stammered, "I-I'm mean it l-like that… in a c-creepy way or anything. I just, uh… I- um…"

"Hey. It's fine. I only remember your eyes too." Finland chuckled, slightly red too. He didn't know why he became so casual with this stranger or why he trusted him, but he did. "Um… sorry but could you maybe get off me again? Your knee is on my stomach." Ber asked politely. "Oh!" Finland quickly jumped up and helped Berwald up as well. "Sorry about that." He then hesitated for a bit before saying, "Tino." Ber looked at him confused, so he added, "My name. I'm Tino. And it's nice to meet you Berwald." He stuck his hand out. Ber shook it and as their eyes met, something electric passed between them. "You can call me Ber." He whispered almost. All of the time in the world seemed to pass as they both stared into the eyes they had looked for, waited for and finally found. It was only when a slightly colder breeze went by that they finally parted. Berwald looked away slightly, a bit embarrassed, looking for something intelligent to say, when he heard a short bark come from behind. He turned just in time to see a small dog launch itself at him. The next thing he knew, he was on the floor with the dog on top of him, wagging its tail eagerly and licking his face.

"HANA! Get off him!" Tino grabbed the energetic pup who protested in short barks. "I'm so sorry about this Berwald. He's normally calmer. Uh… this is Hanatamago. Say hi Hana! Actually maybe its best if you don't… a-are you alright?" Tino asked, clearly flustered and embarrassed by his dog's behaviour. Ber just lay there, first giggling and then full out laughing. At first Tino was confused but then gradually began giggling and smiling too.

Meanwhile, Lukas was silently fuming in the middle of the room. He'd just heard the message from Matthias and was cursing the Dane's idiotic mind. How could he even _think_ of going into an unknown region, so far from home that too, without taking anyone with him? If something happened to Matthias… Lukas clenched his fist. He would never be able to forgive himself if something happened to Matthias. A small tear rolled down his cheek and he hastily wiped it away. Lukas sighed. It was true he cared about the idiot and it didn't help that he would do stupid, dangerous things like that almost every day, like he was _trying_ to get himself killed. And Lukas had to help him every time he was in danger. Well not this time. This time Lukas was staying put. Matthias can do whatever he wants. It didn't matter at all to him if he gets mauled by a wild animal or was shot by the locals or if… Lukas looked towards the door worriedly and sighed again. He stood up, reaching for his sword. Matthias was in for it when he finds him…

Matthias at the moment, was slashing through the trees in an unknown territory, muttering under his breath and occasionally shouting, "BERWALD!" out loud. He stopped for a moment and sniffed the air. There was something in the air. Smoke, smell of meat. Something was cooking. He looked up at the sky and a faint wisp of smoke was floating around. His eyes widened and he grinned. Its been a while since he had eaten. Whoever was cooking was sure to spare a bite but if they didn't… Matthias smirked. He had his ways of getting what he wanted. Before he could stop himself, he rushed towards the smoke, survival instinct taking over. He dragged his axe along and in his hurry failed to notice two small boys and a dog hiding inside a large tree, staring at him with fear, confusion and unexplained hatred.

 **yo! sorry about the delay in uploading this chapter! there's been a issue with my laptop... long story short, is blocked on my laptop now so i have to borrow my mum's. another apology for the short chapter, a lot has been going on in school, homeworks, projects... hopefully I can upload a new chapter on time next time.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"So, why were we hiding from that guy again?" Tino asked as they climbed out and stretched their squashing limbs. Ber looked grimly at the tracks that were made by the dragged axe of the Viking. "Let's just say its best we avoid him. I- I don't know why… I just have a bad feeling, like… like I should stay away from him. Almost like he hurt me or something, but…"

"Hurt you? How?" Tino asked, grabbing his shoulders, and worriedly searching for any signs of wounds. Ber was a little taken aback at how panicked Tino was getting and tried to put his mind to ease. "H-hey, I- its ok Tino… I'm alright, really! Although sometimes I get headaches and my right side hurts a bit… but I'm alright!" Ber drabbled on as Tino looked at him only half convinced.

"Hmm… a-alright… I-if you say so… um… uh…" Tino stuttered, looking for something intelligent to say. Suddenly without a word, he grabbed his hand and began walking fast, almost sprinting. Berwald stumbled at first but then managed to just manage to keep up with him. "W-wait… whe-where are we going?" he asked as they ran through the soft falling snow. When Tino didn't reply, Ber decided to just stay silent and follow.

After a while, they reached what looked like an old abandoned barn. Before Berwald could get a word out, he was pulled in by Tino, who quickly shut the doors the moment they were both inside.

"Tino…? Where are you?" Berwald started, looking around for the country that seemed to have disappeared in the darkness. "Over here" a voice came from a small corner next to a haystack. Berwald confusedly followed the voice. A small flame flickered from a piece of wood that Tino held in his hand, giving him almost an almost creepy expression. Ber hesitantly went towards him. A faint "Moo..." was heard in the back as Ber sat down next to Tino. He looked at him for an explanation. "Oh, it's just the ghost cows, don't worry about them." Tino waved it off. Ber blinked then shrugged. It didn't matter. What mattered was what the heck they were even doing here.

"I live here. " Tino said simply, as if reading his mind. "I tend to like staying away from most people when things get a bit… stressful. You know, just run away from it all to a place that's quiet. Normally no one comes here because of the ghost cows and that's alright… but I guess… it's nice to not be alone completely for once." A small bark made him chuckle. "I'm not saying I don't enjoy your company Hana, but it's not… the same as talking to your own kind… you know?" he looked up at Ber with a small questioning smile. When he didn't respond, Tino turned a little red, like he was embarrassed. "Um… a-actually… I don't know why I even brought here…I just thought that…n-never mind, this was a stupid idea." He got up and started walking towards the door but was stopped when Berwald grabbed his hand. "Hey… I like this place a lot actually. It's really…really uh…" Ber tried to think of something nice to say but at the moment nothing came in his mind. All he could think of was how to make Tino feel better since he seemed…almost close to tears actually, Ber noticed with surprise.

When it became clear the sentence wasn't going to be finished, Tino gently pulled his hand away. "Wait here." He said quietly but firmly. With that he walked out of the barn, leaving the small uncomfortable Swede in darkness again. With nothing else to do, Ber looked down at Hana who seemed to think he had to guard the boy until Tino came back. The determined looking dog was staring at him intently, almost to the point of scaring him. "S-so…uh… how long you been here with T-Tino?" Ber tried asking, trying to start a conversation, before mentally face palming himself. Did he expect the dog to suddenly say, "Oh not long, just some years give or take a few?"

As expected, Hana continued to stare at him, as if he was judging him in his little doggy mind. It was really making Ber uncomfortable so he tried sitting up straight to avoid the watching eyes. He waited nervously for some time before deciding it was time to go look for the boy. But just as he was about to stand up, the barn door creaked open and in came the smiling face of Tino. He had a small bag in his hand that seemed to be half full with something.

"I thought you might be hungry so I brought some snacks. These are called lingonberries. I'm not sure if you would like them but just give it a go?" he said, pouring some small red coloured berries in his hand and holding them out for Berwald with a small smile on his face. Ber hesitantly took a few small ones. He had seen these berries before but always thought they were poisonous since they were so bright red. But if Tino says they were ok to eat…

He popped them in his mouth and crushed it with his teeth. As soon as he did, he wasn't there anymore. Oh no, he was floating around in foody heaven. These berries… oh gosh they were absolutely delicious. They were beyond delicious…they were…they were…there were no words to describe them. How had he not eaten these before? What on earth has he been doing all his life?

Tino softly giggled at the expression Ber was making. It was so cute! Like seeing a little kid trying something that suddenly meant everything to him. If you could forget he was over 100 years old then that is what it was in way. "I hoped you'd like it." Tino said, mid-giggle. "Looks like you do. Gosh you're so cute right now I could pinch your cheeks!" he said, laughing. This cause Ber to snap out of it and open his eyes. He smiled awkwardly at him, suddenly getting weird fuzzy feelings inside. It was nice though…

The next few hours were spent in eating and talking. Tino told him about how he always hid from people and spent most of his time in the barn and nearby the border, secretly patrolling. "it does get lonely sometimes though but there is no way I could go to the villages and places. I'm not saying they're bad people or anything. It's just I'm too different to fit in with them… besides I have everything I need right here!" He explained as Ber nodded slowly. He didn't really remember if he had felt that same among his people so he couldn't say much, but in a way, he understood and wished he had a special place like this too. It sounded amazing. To live with no cares or worries, no scary blondes after you. Just sitting and eating lingonberries and simply living. Although he would get lonely but maybe that problem could be solved too…

"Hey Tino…that…this all," he looked around the dark barn, "it's all really interesting. I'd love to be able to live like this…but not alone." Berwald looked at Tino meaningfully to try and get him to understand what he was implying. But Tino simply gave a confused look and responded, "You don't have to be alone. You could always get a dog or any other animal you like…"

Ber laughed gently at how naïve Tino could be sometimes. He then grabbed his hands and drew closer, his eyes looking deep into the confused country's. "That's not what I mean. Tino… I want…to stay here. With you. Just me and you…" a small bark made him add, "and Hana." A long, faint moo reminded him of their presence too. "Yes, and the ghost cows." He added with a sigh. Ber came closer until their noses were almost about to collide and poor Tino looked so bewildered like a deer caught on headlights. "The point is…I want to stay here with you…for the rest of my life… because I lo-" A loud creak interrupted him and a sudden burst of light caught him off-guard. They both blinked, adjusting their eyes to see the figure at the bright light.

"About time I found you. Although why you are in a manky abandoned barn with a stranger, a dog that's barking its head off at me and ghost cows, is beyond me. But I'm sure there's a very logical explanation to all of this which I expect to hear soon." Lukas calmly said, his arms crossed. He didn't look like a very happy bunny…

 **hey! so uh sorry about not posting for so long...hehehe *dodges tomatoes* pls dont hurt me! I havnt forgotten this story! with the summer holidays coming soon i should be able to post more often... sorry about the chapter being short..sorry about not posting...my school loves to give hw...peasents...**


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